Qualify for Hospice Care

When is it time to consider hospice care as an option?

Hospice care may be considered for anyone doctors believe to have a life expectancy of less than six months. Usually at the point, active treatment aimed at recovery stops and hospice care is initiated. Hospice care focuses on producing the best possible quality of life in the patient’s remaining time.

Different diseases and conditions each have their own guidelines for hospice admission. The most common of these diseases or conditions include ALS, cancer, dementia, heart disease, HIV, kidney disease, liver disease, lung disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and coma. Sometimes a patient does not "fit" into the guidelines but still has a life expectancy of six months or less and therefore may be eligible for hospice.

In order to be eligible to elect hospice care under Medicare, an individual must be entitled to Part A of Medicare and certified as being terminally ill by a physician and having a prognosis of 6 months or less if the disease runs its normal course.